Nurse...Scalpel!

Well, I'm going to have to operate on my Fender Marcus Miller Signature Jazz Bass due to the incompentecy of the music store I bought it from... So I need all the expertise of knowledgable music store employees and ...well really really smart people!

There is a peculiar buzzing, not the 60 cycle hum that is "standard" with J-p/ups, but a loud buzzing...when I place my hand on my bridge, it seems to ground it out (correct term?), but not so much when I mute the strings...so it's not the p/ups, right?

Did Fender forget to add that bridge grounding wire?

Do I need to switch the wire placement around on my active passive switch? (I read that, when wired properly, sounds like a '78 Jazz and a Marcus Miller...)

Whoever would know, please help! A Bass is a horrible thing to waste! Thanks a lot!

sounds like an electrical ground problem. I dont think you have to do much to figure it out. What happens if you put your hand on the controll plate, but nowhere else? Just the strings? just the bridge?

Is the outlet you're playing though a grounded outlet, or are you using a ground lift? I used to have this problem until my house was rewired, and I had a circut just for my guitar stuff put in. The problem went away. Try out your outlet in other outlets, and see what happens. I dont really think the problem is in the bass IMHO.

What else is on the circut? TV's, Computers, floresent lights? All of these can cause interference w/ your amp, and provide extra noise. I went though a hell of a time trying to figure out why random buzzing would occure. I was able to trase it to the dryer. This was of course before i put my amps on their own circut, but one of the main reasons why i did it.

Originally posted by int The easiest thing to do is open it and find out.

Click to expand...

Well, I gently took the strings off tonight, and I opened 'er up...there is shielding behind the pickguard/cover for the electronics, the cavity is sprayed with Carbon somthing or other...and there is grounding wire to the bridge...GRRR!

Go to Home Depot or the equivilent chain store in your area and buy a cheap electrical outlet testing device (which is a good thing to have anyway when you gig). Check the outlets in the room (in particular the one your amp is plugged into) to see if they are properly wired. If that isn't the problem it's more than likely interference caused by another source in the room such as a TV, a computer or overhead lighting. It's not the bass.